Latest news with #Agristack
Hans India
8 hours ago
- Business
- Hans India
Cabinet clears MahaAgri-AI Policy to put Maharashtra at the forefront in digital innovation
Mumbai: The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday cleared the Maharashtra Agriculture-Artificial Intelligence MahaAgri-AI Policy 2025-2029, which aims to keep the state's agriculture sector at the forefront of the digital era. 'Sustainable and scalable solutions will be implemented with the help of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, Internet of Things (IoTs), Drones, Computer Vision, Robotics and Predictive Analytics. It will help in taking forward projects like Agristack, Maha-Agristack, Mahavedh, CropSap, Agmarknet, Digital Farming School, and Maha-DBT in the state. There will be a three-tier administrative structure for the implementation of this policy. A fund of Rs 500 crore will be made available for the first three years for the implementation of this policy,' said the government release. The Cabinet also decided to amend or make changes to the policy in the next five years, as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector is changing rapidly. For this, the State Level Steering Committee, State Level Technical Committee, Artificial Intelligence and Agritech Innovation Centre, and Agricultural Artificial Intelligence Research and Innovation Centre under the Agricultural University will work. 'The policy will create a leading hub for AI and innovation in the agricultural sector in the state, will increase 'farmer-centric use' of AI technology, research, data sharing, support for start-ups, and it is expected to put Maharashtra at the forefront of digital agricultural innovation,' said the government release. According to the state agriculture department, the policy will encourage startups, private companies/technology companies, agricultural universities, research institutes, agricultural science centres, private institutions and farmers/Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to adopt "farmer-centric" use of Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies. This will involve institutionalising an Artificial Intelligence and Agritech Innovation Centre, which will act as an independent, full-time implementing mechanism for the practical implementation of this policy. This mechanism will work on various aspects under the policy, such as partnerships with national and international institutions, promotion of innovations, selection, implementation and financing of projects, coordination and capacity building. Agri-Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Incubation Centres will be set up in four agricultural universities in the state under the guidance of institutions like IITs/IISc. According to the policy, a digital public infrastructure will be set up to support data-driven agriculture and AI applications. These facilities will facilitate state-wide, secure, consistent and consent-based data exchange. A cloud-based Agriculture Data Exchange (A-DeX) and sandboxing facility will be made available, connecting all agriculture-related databases of the Central and State Governments (Agristack, Mahavedh, Maha-Agritech, CropSap, Agmarknet, Digital Shetishala and Maha-DBT) to this digital platform. Through this exchange, data on farmers, their land, crop information, local weather, and soil health will be made available for AI projects. 'An integrated engine with AI-enabled Remote Sensing and Geo-spatial Intelligence will be developed. This will help in decision making by analysing spatial information from various sources collected through satellite imagery, drone surveys, UAVs and IoT-based devices. This system will be connected to national and state platforms like MahaVedh, FASAL, and Bhuvan through API. This platform can be used by departments like Agriculture, Water Resources and Revenue and Disaster Management for various purposes,' said the government release.
Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Maharashtra cabinet clears AI policy for agriculture
Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday cleared the MahaAgri — AI policy 2025-29 to usher in the use of Artifical Intelligence in agriculture focusing on setting up different agro data sets, geospatial intelligence, standardisation of agro-food safety, real time guidance to farmers and providing agriculture related necessary information. An Agro data exchange (A-DeX) linking government and private data sets as well as other stakeholders will also be set up. Under the policy, projects using AI aimed at agriculture will get approval from State Level Scrutiny Committee (SLSC). The state level technical committee will examine the feasibility of the project including government help, guidance and recommendation for financial aid. The primary evaluation of the project will be undertaken by the AgriAI cell. Competitions such as Hackathon will also be arranged to invite projects addressing various issues faced in the agriculture sector. The A-DeX, will connect the government data sets such as Agristack, Maha agritech, Mahavedh and other related to storage etc and the private data sets including information on export data, market intelligence, information based on satellites, supply chain, climate based data, financial services, agro-tech platforms, etc. Other stakeholders such as startups, industry, farmer producer organisations, research institutes and government will also be linked. 'A virtually integrated system to access agricultural resources, also known as Maha VISTAAR AI will be developed under the new policy,' said an official from the Agriculture department. Under the system, by using digital modes such as chatbot, interactive voice response system (IVRS), web portal. The VISTAAR will be an open network on information related to agriculture. The government has made a financial provision of Rs 500 crore for the first three years into the implementation of the policy. A review of it will be taken after three years.
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Nagpur Officials Ordered to Complete 100% Agristack Registration by May 31, Salary Hike Threat for Delay
1 2 Nagpur: State revenue minister and district guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has warned officials of strict action if farmers in Nagpur district are not registered under the central government's Agristack scheme by May a kharif season review meeting held at Niyojan Bhavan, Bawankule set a 100% registration target and stated that tehsil agriculture officers, tehsildars, and field-level staff delaying the process would face disciplinary the meeting via phone, agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate added that salary hikes for negligent officers and employees would be withheld if registration targets were not Agristack initiative aims to ensure the timely and transparent delivery of government schemes to farmers. Bawankule emphasized that those not registered in the Agristack database may be deprived of various government benefits, as priority would be given to enrolled also mandated the online recording of Gram Sabha meetings , directing agricultural assistants and supervisors to remain present at every Gram Sabha to spread awareness about government schemes. Funding for recording equipment will be provided under the District Annual Shyamkumar Barve raised concerns over the attendance of agricultural assistants at these meetings. In response, Bawankule assured that strict monitoring and accountability would be enforced to ensure their presence and active government is also exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance transparency and streamline the delivery of welfare schemes. Additionally, a decision will soon be taken to allow the cultivation of animal fodder on government fallow accelerate Agristack implementation, special registration camps will be held across all revenue boards. Minister of state Ashish Jaiswal emphasized the need for a detailed roadmap for tribal farmers as part of the Kharif season Charan Singh Thakur, ZP CEO Vinayak Mahamuni, in-charge Collector Pradeep Kulkarni, District Superintendent Agriculture Officer Ravindra Manohare, and other senior officials were also present at the meeting.
The Hindu
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Farmers' collective demands revamp of agristack portal
The Bangaaru Vaickal Neeradhara Koottamaippu, a farmers and water rights collective, has urged the Puducherry government to revamp the Agristack portal in the wake of inaccuracies in the information furnished by the Department of Agriculture. In a letter addressed to Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan, the collective cited numerous complaints of discrepancies in the disbursal of Cyclone relief and production incentive to beneficiaries in the Union Territory. According to V. Chandrasekhar, president of the collective, the Additional Director of Agriculture (Training and Visit), Thattanchavady had disbursed the production incentive for paddy - samba 2024 season last week. He said that only farmers registered in the portal were eligible for the incentive. However, registration of farmers was not done as per government norms. On scrutiny, it was found that the total extent of land owned by the farmers did not match the total reported area that suffered damage, with the latter exceeding the former. Though this was brought to the notice of the Agriculture department, no corrective measures were taken. The Agristack portal should be immediately revamped and the list of beneficiaries for production incentive for the Paddy-Samba 2024 season should be posted with the claim for incentive for each resurvey number, he said. The collective also demanded the government to take immediate action against senior officials of the Department of Agriculture for alleged negligence and lack of diligence, which resulted in fraudulent claims on the portal, allowing excessive amount to be availed under the Cyclone relief assistance and production incentive scheme.
